This past weekend me and a bunch of my friends that I have met through the program went to the south of Spain to an absolutely beautiful city we know as Seville. It had such a small town homey feeling with all the white apartment buildings and beautiful colorful flowers on the outside and even if you peak through the doors into the courtyards. The weather was warmer and the people were even nicer. Reminds me of the south in the United States! I enjoyed this trip because I got a taste of what could have been. As some of you may already know I was previously enrolled in a grad program where I would have spent a semester in Sevilla.
We got a tour of the third largest Cathedral in the world, and the largest in Spain. It was really cool, even some of Christopher Columbus' remains are in a tomb inside. I say some because he actually has four tombs scattered around the world. This cathedral used to be a Mosque and up in the tower is where they were called to pray the five times a day.
The view from the top of the tower was simply breath taking, on one side you got to see the city, and if you look closely you can see a bull fighting ring in the distance. On the other side you can see the cathedral and the courtyard. Seville is known for its orange trees! Some of the students on the trip tried them but they were not ripe yet and very bitter almost like a lime. Getting to the top was quite the amount of exercise, instead of stairs it was ramps so that back in the olden days they could ride their horses up. There were 34 ramps in total, by about ramp number 10 I was hoping I had a horse.
Then on Saturday we took a two hour bus ride to the old town of Córdoba which is actually where they filmed some scenes of Game of Thrones for any fans out there. Unfortunately I had never seen it so it didn't do much for me but the town had its own charm. We got a tour of the mosque there and also a traditional meal for lunch. It was pretty delicious and healthy. To start was a soup, almost like gazpacho with its own twists, then we had a dish wish cooked vegetables and a fried egg on top, and for desert spaghetti squash pie! It tastes a lot better than it sounds :)
On Sunday we had an audio guide of the massive royal palace, Alcázar of Seville. This palace is one of the oldest royal palaces in Europe that is still in use! It was so beautiful and even had its own bush labyrinth. They always seem so easy and ten minutes in I am panicking trying to find my way out.
One of our last stops in Sevilla before we headed back to Barcelona was Plaza de España. It was just another breathtakingly huge building. It is also where they filmed some of Star Wars: Episode 2. Lots of movie culture on this trip! We also saw many couples getting some beautiful wedding photos both here and at the royal palace. This weekend I really came to know how awesome the friends I have made here are, its amazing to have met someone two months ago yet they are right there for you when you need them. I am in good hands here :)